During completion of wells that traverse a hydrocarbon bearing formation, production tubing and completion equipment is installed in the well to enable safe and efficient production of formation fluids. For example, to prevent the production of particulate material from an unconsolidated or loosely consolidated subterranean formation, certain completions include one or more sand control screen assemblies positioned proximate the desired production interval or intervals. In other completions, to control the flowrate of production fluids into the production tubing, it is common practice to install one or more inflow control devices (“ICDs”) along the tubing string.
ICDs are a proven technology for overall flux balance. A conventional ICD, due to its nature of creating flow restrictions, has certain regions with higher velocities and base pipe wall shear within its fluid flow path. In a scenario where operators need to perform acid stimulation, the associated corrosive environment, along with the high wall shear induced by the nature of the ICD, can lead to mechanical failure of the device. Mechanical failure is caused by the erosion of the oxide layer generated by the corrosive chemicals. As the fluid flows past the base pipe at elevated rates, the resultant wall shear erodes the corrosive layer, referred to as “flow-induced erosion.” In many cases, the flow-induced erosion will continue until mechanical failure of the device. Expensive corrective operations are then necessary to repair the completion assembly.